Day 1 of the “New” Chain Reaction

Last night my brother Steve and I introduced the first of many changes, some procedural, some physical, that you’ll see at Chain Reaction this year. From the front page of our website-

NOBODY BEATS CHAIN REACTION!

Free tune-ups on derailleurs, brakes & wheels for life on all new bike purchases. While you wait!

7 day low-price guarantee on all new bikes!

Buy-back program on all new kids bikes!

There are many more reasons to buy from Chain Reaction Bicycles, including discounts on accessories when you buy your bike, our dynamic fit services (we’ll swap out the stem on your road or mountain bike anytime in the first year, not just when you buy the bike), our expert assembly, tremendous inventory and 31 years of doing business so we can honestly say we’ve done business with your parents, with you and your kids. We won’t be undersold, and we’ve never been outclassed. 2011 is going to be a great year for Chain Reaction and our customers!

What does this mean?

Free tune-ups on derailleurs, brakes & wheels for life on all new bike purchases. While you wait! It’s taken us a while to react to the “free tune-ups” being offered by some shops, believing that customers could see through it, especially as we continue to work on many bikes, paid repairs, that customers could have taken back for their “free tune up.” You can read the reviews of work performed by such shops and the truth becomes rapidly apparent, but other shops just saying they did “free tune-ups” was costing us sales. We, on the other hand, have done more “free” work on bikes we’ve sold than any such shop, handling adjustments of brakes, derailleurs and wheels on the spot, at no charge. So instead of defense and trashing other shops (never a good idea), we’re going on the offense and redefining what we do, both in words and procedure. We are confident that we are doing more for you and your bike. Always have, always will. The other guys will no longer win the battle of words though!

7 day low-price guarantee on all new bikes! If you buy a current-model bike from us and you find it in stock locally at a lower price, we will refund you the difference. We will not be undersold!

Buy-back program on all new kids bikes! This one’s pretty cool. We know that kids grow out of bikes, and we know that the bikes we sell are quite a bit better, and quite a bit more expensive, than what you find at a department store. Our bikes will typically survive several kids, while in some cases a kid has a tough time surviving a department store bike! So to make it easy to understand that you get a better bike without having to spend more, we’ll buy the bike back when the kid outgrows it. For up to 3 years, we’ll give a credit of 30% what you paid for it, less the cost of new tires if needed, towards a new bike! Obviously the bike can’t be a pile of rust, but we’ll be reasonable about normal wear & tear.

It’s going to take some time fine-tuning everything, so things will get added to this, things may change slightly, but the intention is obvious. In a bass-ackwards way, we’re backing up our deeds with words.

It’s incredibly self-serving for me to say this, but we’ve always worked hard at being the best-possible place to buy a bike… or anything else. We’ve always made the extra effort to take care of our customers when something wasn’t quite right, we’ve always tried to be as reasonable on pricing as we could, we’ve always acted like anything purchased from us was still “ours” and we were still responsible for it, years later. But these days, that’s not enough. You have to master social media, you have to train your staff to better understand that people coming into the store aren’t “just looking” (wanting to waste time driving many miles, finding a place to park, just for fun? Don’t think so!), but want a solution to something, and it’s our job to provide that solution.

I think we’ve earned the right to sell you your next bike. Now we’re going to make sure you think so, too. Today, tomorrow, and many years from now. –Mike–

Sounds great. I can say this website is a huge plus. I check out the blog everyday to check it out and read whats up with your rides, equipment etc. While on a motorcycle ride, i stopped in the shop to check it out. I really liked the selection and the staff. I just got into cycling and bought a madone 5.2 but in the next two years i want a custom project one bike and will be going to your shop. Keep up the great work.

i have a 3900 trek bike which am occuring problems with the front shock absorbers is there any chance i can find shock absorbers that i can exchange the ones i have with upgraded ones please let me know thanks

Antoine: What sort of problems are you having? Getting an ungraded shock for a 3900 is going to cost nearly as much as the bike did when new. Best to bring it into the shop to see what’s going on. If you’re using a 3900 for hard off-road stuff, you’re exceeding its capabilities and should be looking at upgrading the bike. –Mike–